GLAC PÁIRT I GCUR CHUN TOSAIGH na hÉIREANN

Nesbitt needs to clarify Ulster Unionist party position on victims

Sinn Féin MLA Francie Molloy said that Ulster Unionist party leader Mike Nesbitt needs to clarify his party’s position on victims.

The Mid-Ulster MLA was speaking after Ulster Unionist Tom Elliott was reported as saying that those killed by the IRA during the conflict were the ‘real victims’.

The Sinn Féin MLA said:

“This is a disgraceful statement by Tom Elliott and the current UUP leader and former Victims Commissioner Mike Nesbitt needs to come out and clarify his party’s position on victims.

“Tom Elliott’s comments will have offended many relatives who lost loved ones during the conflict to both loyalist gangs and the British state’s armed groups. As a former member of the discredited UDR, Tom Elliott will obviously have been aware that his now disbanded regiment were responsible for creating many victims.

“Mike Nesbitt needs to come out and state whether Tom Elliott was voicing Ulster Unionist party policy on victims. Silence from Mr Nesbitt can only be taken as support for these disgraceful remarks.”